The study and diagnosis of lameness is of more importance every day in equine medicine and very special dedicated to the horse racing in any of its disciplines.

The fact of working in an increasingly more competitive, forcing us to make accurate diagnoses and successful predictions. This will require most of the time a comprehensive examination, which must be supported by a thorough anatomical knowledge and physiological and correct and methodical exploration technique.

General Concepts

Whatever the origin of the lesion to sit on the musculoskeletal system, it responds by altering its normal operation, thus showing a slowing in gait or lameness is called claudication.

Faced with this patient who limps or falter, the veterinarian will have to answer several questions:

Do you really lame? And what is the member or members affected?
What locomotor region sits the injury or cause of lameness?
What is the type and origin of the injury?

We say that a horse wanders so lame when defective, altering the normal relationship between the different phases of walking.

The step has two phases. A lift that begins when the foot leaves the ground and other support, which lasts as long as one foot contacts the ground.

So, let's make a first classification of lameness lameness support and lift, as the time the animal, trying to relieve pain or alter withdraws support the lifting phase, shortening or lengthening.

Claudication cold call to those that are more intense lameness when the horse starts the exercise, in return for the hot lameness calls where dysfunction is accentuated by work or exercise.

Although lameness may have many causes, these can be summarized into three main groups, namely:

- Painful origin lameness: Are most and respond to all those alterations can develop the sign pain.
- Mechanical cause-Lameness: Are all those in which, absent the pain, the disorder occurs at the expense of mechanical failure free imposed on the joint play, as for example in ankylosis, retractions tendoligamentosas, muscle sections, etc..
- Lameness of neurogenic origin: Those caused by nervous system and causing ataxia, paresis and paralysis that alter locomotion.

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